Sir Richard Branson could teach the Air Ambulance Service a thing or two

Luckily, this doesn't happen on his airline. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin is
the proud sponsor of the air ambulance service – the chopper squad that's
meant to tend to the injured rather than add to them.

Sir Richard Branson could teach the Air Ambulance Service a thing or twoPhoto: GETTY

Edited by Alistair Osborne

8:59PM GMT 11 Nov 2010

On June 17 the copter was en route to Durham Tees Valley Airport. Here's how the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) takes up the story: "Shortly after takeoff the helicopter's right rear cabin quarter-door opened. A number of articles fell out, including a stationery folder that hit a person on the ground, rendering him unconscious."

Happily, the operator (who isn't Branson, just for clarity) is promising to re-train the crew on the complex art of "closing, locking and opening of all doors".

Aka "Doors to manual".

Slash ventures into alien territory

Rock 'n' roll, it's not. So no wonder the bloke in the leather jacket looked so out of place at the British Venture Capital Association's annual shindig.

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No sooner did the geezer step into the room at London's Landmark hotel than, like the delegates with their businesses, he was floundering around looking for an exit.

Still, it's not the sort of gig Slash, below, from Guns N Roses usually attends. Who was he looking for, you wonder? Axl Rose?

BP should be on safe ground this time

BP's annual knees-up at the British Museum on Tuesday was themed as a North African party – in tune with the Ancient Book of the Dead exhibition. Party regulars will recall that last year Mexico was the subject of celebration, as music and champagne flowed in honour of the Aztec Moctezuma displays.

Call me a cynic but it's lucky there's no Gulf of Egypt.

Analysts count the cost of questions

BT's Ian Livingston is not the only boss to have become hacked off with "question-inflation" at results presentations. In the old days it was one hand, one question but analysts have pushed the envelope to three, four or even five. Livingston came up with a novel solution on Thursday, stinging the City's phone number crunchers for £10 per supplementary question.

The new policy left Morgan Stanley's chatty analyst with a lighter wallet but the caper raised £1,470 for Children in Need. The garrulous analysts got through £470. Livingston added a grand.